We are approaching the 180-day mark since President Barack Obama signed legislation to set in motion the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Under the law, the president, the defense secretary, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must “certify” that the military is ready for repeal. Once certified, repeal will take place 60 days later.

When the president signed repeal, he said, “I have spoken to every one of the service chiefs, and they are all committed to implementing this change swiftly and efficiently. We are not going to be dragging our feet to get this done.”

Yet, here we are nearly six months later, and we have no clear indication that this is going to get done before Defense Secretary Robert Gates leaves his post at the end of June. If not, it could be several more weeks before the new Defense secretary is prepared to certify.

It’s difficult to explain – much less defend – why this much time has passed without certification taking place. My fear is that we are seeing a bureaucratic delay coupled with an overabundance of caution. Unfortunately, this means that gay and lesbian service members continue to be investigated and remain at risk of being fired.

In fact, we have clients facing administrative board hearings under DADT right now. They very well could be recommended for discharge. Meanwhile, countless other gay and lesbian service members are forced to live under the constant threat of DADT.

As this delay in certification continues, opponents of repeal are not giving up their fight to ensure that gay and lesbian service members remain second-class citizens. Indeed, they are resisting and circumventing wherever possible, and, in the process, attempting to create bad law and impose it on our military.

The House has now added toxic amendments to the defense spending bill, including language that would expand the Defense of Marriage Act and threaten the religious liberties of chaplains and service members alike. This represents an assault on our nation’s military leaders and rank-and-file service members, who are marching smartly toward open service.

Next week, the Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to begin markup of its defense spending bill. These measures – designed to delay and derail certification and inject the same-sex marriage debate into the defense budget, where it does not belong – are likely to be offered once again.

We intend to stand and fight with our allies. But the outcome is unclear. Unfortunately, we could end up with a bill sent to the president that includes anti-repeal, anti-gay language.

So, again I ask, what’s taking so long?

Last year, Congress and Obama both expressed support for repeal. More than half the nation’s two million service members have been trained for open service. There will also be an additional 60 days beyond certification for the remainder of the training to occur before repeal is in effect. And more than 80 percent of the American people support repeal.

But perhaps most important, there are thousands of gay and lesbian service members wearing the uniform of the United States, yet serve in silence. There are countless others ready to enlist. They deserve to serve the country they love with honesty and integrity — and they have been patient long enough.

Aubrey Sarvis is an Army veteran and executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.